


Someone Gets Hurt

by maniacsmaniac



Category: Scooby Doo - All Media Types
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Feelings, Gen, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, In which Fred is a self-sacrificing dumbass, Injury, Light-Hearted, One Shot, Stargazing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:48:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25646839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maniacsmaniac/pseuds/maniacsmaniac
Summary: Someone gets hurt. Shaggy isn't taking it too well and runs off. Velma has to go find him.
Relationships: Fred Jones & Norville "Shaggy" Rogers, Velma Dinkley & Fred Jones, Velma Dinkley/Norville "Shaggy" Rogers
Comments: 5
Kudos: 28





	Someone Gets Hurt

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SpongeGuy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpongeGuy/gifts).



> Before we start, I just want to inform you all that while I am going to be giving Scooby-Doo himself dialogue in this piece that I am not even going to try to write him with that voice… Accent… Thing... That he has going on. As I’ve been watching the show, I’ve actually noticed that Scooby’s pronunciations have no sense of consistency to them and that he actually speaks with a lot more clarity and proper pronunciation than you would probably expect. And so because of that, I just can’t be particularly bothered to write using that voice. Personally, I would rather be clear in my writing instead of tormenting myself with trying to capture a kind of authenticity that isn’t really there in the first place. However, you, dear reader, are more than welcome to give him that voice in the theatre of your mind.
> 
> Possible content warnings: Bodily harm, PTSD-like symptoms, and panic attacks. But there isn’t really anything in here that I would consider to be particularly intense. Overall this is just a pretty chill time.

“Shaggy, watch out!” He hadn’t realized that the monster was behind him until it was too late. As the monster bore its claws down towards him, Shaggy could only brace himself for an impact that never came. It happened in a second, too fast for Shaggy to even realize what was happening at the time. Though if he  _ had  _ known, he probably wouldn’t have let it happen in the first place...

Fred had shoved Shaggy out of the way, the monster striking him instead. Claws tore into the back of the blonde’s shirt, and a bright red could be seen staining his sweater’s white fabric. However that was not enough to deter Fred from wanting to fight back. He spun around to confront the monster, but before he could so much as think about throwing a punch, the monster struck the teen’s chest with its backhand, sending him flying across the room where he slammed into the opposite wall, knocking him unconscious and immediately putting him out of commission.

But that was hours ago. The gang had already checked Fred out of the hospital, the doctors confirming that the cuts across his back were mostly superficial and that so long as he didn’t pick at them, they would heal within a few weeks at most. The concussion that had knocked him out was a much bigger concern, however the doctors had assured them all that so long as he got ample rest, he should be fine. The doctors, of course, had to give the kids a strongly worded lecture about the potential dangers of brain damage and to not make getting injured like this a habit before they were allowed to leave and drive over to the inn where they were going to spend the night.

The Mystery Gang had just tucked their wounded friend into bed, and were just talking and joking around, waiting for tiredness to overcome and make them ready to head to bed themselves. However one member set himself aside, watching the rest in silence.

Shaggy sat quietly, off towards one of the corners of the room, a ways from the foot of Fred’s bed. While Shaggy was grateful to Fred for protecting him and was glad that he was mostly fine, he couldn’t help but to stew in his own thoughts. The moment that the mystery was over, the monster unmasked, and the culprit taken away, a single thought plagued Shaggy’s mind. From the moment that Shaggy started up the Mystery Machine, the police escorting them to the closest hospital, the events that led to Fred getting hurt played in his head on repeat.

Over and over and over again, Shaggy would look up to see his friends frozen stiff in fear. As he turned, he only saw the monster for a split second, a claw quickly coming down on him, before he was knocked to the ground. After landing unharmed on the concrete floor, he looked up to see Fred standing over him, bleeding. Shaggy would watch as Fred turned before being thrown across the room where he would pass out. And as he watched the scene play through his head, each time Shaggy wondered if there was anything that he could have done differently. If there was anything that he could have done to stop his friend from getting hurt. If there was some way that  _ he  _ could have gotten hurt instead of Fred. Maybe if he had stopped him… But he couldn’t know for certain. And every time that he watched this scene play out, the same words repeated themselves in his head.

Someone got hurt because of  _ me _ .

He would never want to admit it, but was a feeling that was far from being alien to him. And each time those words reiterated themselves in his mind, he could feel the pit in his stomach sink lower and lower and lower until…

“Shag, are you okay?”

The gang had been cheerfully chatting, Fred laying down, giving the others reassurances as Scooby-Doo lay his head on the bed so that he could get convenient pets from their injured friend, the other three sitting in chairs around him. It was a light conversation as the group considered where they were going to head to next. They were talking about driving somewhere more relaxing for the next few days. Maybe somewhere with a beach where they could just rest and relax. At least until their friend was good enough to do more strenuous physical activities again. But the conversation had stopped the moment Fred looked over to Shaggy.

Up to this point, Shaggy had been alternating between looking nervously at his friends and staring at the ground. He just couldn’t bring himself to say anything, not that the others particularly noticed nor minded. But now that the other four were looking at him with concern so clear in their eyes, Shaggy found that he couldn’t bring himself to speak. And the silence was agonizing.

He wanted to contribute something, anything to the conversation. To make a suggestion. To crack a joke. Even just reassure them all that he was fine. But no words came. Any that he could think of just got caught in his throat and he wasn’t able to choke them out. And as the silence stretched on, those same words repeated in his head over and over again, not letting him have any sense of reprieve.

_ Someone got hurt because of you. _

His mouth flapped in futility as he tried to get his voice to work, opening and closing, evoking the image of a fish desperately staring at its caretakers as it suffocated on dry land. Taking a moment, he took in a deep breath to reconstitute himself. “I-I’m…” He cleared his voice. He could do this. “I’m fine.” Shaggy finally managed to force the words out as he crossed his arms, trying his best to appear nonchalant. “Like… Uh… Why do you ask?”

The others looked at each other, clearly worried. Obviously Shaggy’s poor acting was not enough to convince them.

It was Daphne who spoke next, breaking the strained silence between them. “Shaggy… Are you sure that you’re alright?” Her voice had a kind delicacy to it. “You’re crying…”

Shaggy shot a hand to his face to confirm her observation before wiping his eyes clean. He had been so lost in his own thoughts that he didn’t notice the hot tears slowly streaking down his face. When he looked back to his friends, their concerned expressions made for a painful sight.

“What’s wrong?” Fred asked, pushing himself upright. It was an action that clearly caused him some degree of physical pain which made Shaggy come to his feet. “Shaggy...?” As he stood, it made Fred hesitate while Daphne jumped to her feet. Scooby began to whimper as he and Daphne suspected that they knew what was going to happen next.

Shaggy let out a high-pitched, nervous laugh that did little to ease the group’s nerves. He just couldn’t stand seeing his friends fret over him like this. “I uh… I need to be alone right now,” he said in a hushed tone before he dashed out of the room.

“Shaggy! Wait!” Daphne shouted before tearing down the hall after him.

Fred was about to jump out of bed to go after him as well, but Velma put a hand to his chest to stop him before he could get up. “Fred… No. You need to stay here and rest,” Velma told him. “Daphne and I will find him. So you can just relax.” Besides. Even under normal circumstances, Fred wasn’t fast enough to keep up with him. Fred certainly wasn’t going to be able to catch Shaggy while he was injured like this.

However in spite of both of them knowing this, Fred still pushed against Velma, desperate to get up. “But he needs us! We need to talk to him!” he insisted.

“Not when you’re like this! The doctor told you to rest. We can take care of it.” Velma was not going to budge. Besides. It was clear that this had happened because Shaggy was not taking the sight of Fred being injured very well. For as good at talking Shaggy and Scooby out of a panic as he was, Fred’s assistance in this particular case would only make things worse.

“But…!”

“No buts!” There was no room for arguments in the order. “You’re staying here! And don’t think that you can talk me into letting you help!”

Fred stared at Velma for a long moment, stubbornly trying to come up with a way to make her change her mind. “Alright… Fine,” he said, finally relenting, laying back down with a huff. He knew that Velma could get equally as bullheaded as him when pushed to it. He simply wasn’t going to be able to win this one.

Glad that the boy was starting to act at least a little reasonable, Velma turned to the dog. “Scooby?”

At hearing his name, Scooby-Doo’s ears perked up and he lifted his head off of the bed to better look at the bespectacled girl. “Yeah?”

“Do you know what’s going on with Shaggy?” Velma asked as gently as she could (which as it turned out, was not as gentle as one would probably hope).

In response, Scooby-Doo just lay his head back down on the bed with a whine. It was clear that he knew something but didn’t want to say whatever it was.

“Scooby…” Coming to the dog’s side, Velma knelt down and scratched him behind the ears. That seemed to calm the dog down a bit. “Can you tell us what’s wrong?”

The dog looked nervously between the two before he spoke. “Someone got hurt again...” And with that pretty vague explanation, it was clear that Scooby-Doo wasn’t going to give them any more information.

With a sigh, Velma got back to her feet. “Alright, Scooby.” Once fully upright, she dusted and smoothed her skirt. “Could you do me a favor?”

The Great Dane tilted his head to the side, listening.

“Would you keep an eye on Fred until we get back? He’s going to try and get up when I leave.”

“Hey!” Fred protested. But she was absolutely, 100% right. He had been planning to get up the moment he was out of her sight, and he did not appreciate being called out like that.

“Well?” she eyed Fred with that knowing look, making him cross his arms and begin to sulk in response. Velma couldn’t help but to let out an amused breath and give her partner in crime a fond smile which clearly made him soften, if only a little. But Fred was determined to at least pretend that he was still upset with her, even as a mischievous grin began to creep its way across his face.

Velma turned back to Scooby who had been watching this whole interaction, not fully knowing what to make of it. “So Scooby, would you please make sure that he stays in bed for me?”

After a moment of thinking it over, Scooby-Doo leaned back on his hind legs and gave her a salute. “Roger that, Velma!”

“Now that’s a good boy.” Velma gave Scooby one last good pat on the head and scratch behind the ears before she left, closing the door behind her.

Velma had scarcely gotten to the stairs when she ran into Daphne. She was breathing heavily, clearly exhausted by her best attempts to give chase, though it had been pretty obvious to everyone that she didn’t have much of a chance at actually catching him. Everyone knew that Shaggy was by far the fastest runner in the group only tied by Scooby-Doo, an actual dog. But from the look of things, Daphne must have given him a run (haha) for his money.

Giving Daphne a moment to catch her breath Velma asked, “Couldn’t catch him?”

Still panting, Daphne nodded her head. “Lost him on the third floor.”

“Do you know where he might have been going?”

This time she shook her head. No. “Maybe the Mystery Machine? He was heading downstairs.”

“Maybe… I’ll go check. But he might still be in the building. We’ll be able to cover more ground if we split up, so would you mind checking the rest of the building while I head down to the van?”

* * *

It was getting a bit hopeless. The two had decided to meet back in Fred’s room in an hour if for nothing else than to regroup and to put their heads together and try to figure out where Shaggy could have gone. 45 minutes had already passed and there was still no sign of him. The Mystery Machine had been empty, and as far as anyone was concerned, no one had disturbed it since the gang first unloaded it shortly after checking in. Velma had been searching every nook and cranny of the building since then trying to find her friend. This was probably the third time she had gone from the bottom to the top floor, searching every publicly available place she could think of where he could have hidden himself. However it was to no avail. Maybe it was time they started knocking on doors and breaking into places they weren’t supposed to be able to get into…

The building had been part of an apartment complex that had long since been converted into a place for guests and people passing through the area to stay. It was the cheapest and in fact, only place to stay at for miles around. The ‘Rest Inn’ as the place was called, had always been a convenient resting point when the gang passed through the area. They had visited it a number of times over the years of their travels. There had been whispers and rumors among the staff and guests that some big company had been buying all of the land out here and that construction to put in houses and some kind of shopping district would be starting any day now. Apparently, the owner of the building just wanted to get in early on the businesses that would be opening soon enough in the area. But that rumor had been around for at least as long as the kids had been staying here, and it may as well have been a fixture of the building itself at this point. The gang never saw any signs of construction no matter how many times they stopped here. Somebody was probably spreading the rumor as a scam for… Something. Maybe getting people to buy land out here? But if it was a scam, it was a rather harmless one. After all, spreading rumors isn’t exactly illegal and who did it really hurt? So unless something more sinister came along, the gang had long since decided to let things be and to allow the inn to continue being an odd sort of anomaly deep in the mountains here.

But if Shaggy wasn’t in the building and he wasn’t in the Mystery Machine, then where could he be? Velma had been pacing the top floor, hand to chin as she tried to think of an answer.

He couldn’t be out there in the forest, right? The trees went on for miles and even if he followed the road, he wasn’t going to hit anything until he had done at least a day’s worth of walking. Hitchhiking wouldn’t have been much his speed either, especially by himself and in the dark like this. But that didn’t change the fact that they still hadn’t found him yet. Could he have been so upset that he would act  _ that  _ reckless? No. He still had to be here. Hiding somewhere... They just needed to figure out where.

On her third loop around the top floor, still pacing and trying to think of a place where Shaggy could have squeezed into to hide, Velma noticed the open window. It had been a rather balmy evening so it only made sense to open the windows to let in some fresh air. Maybe she could use some of that fresh, thin, mountain air herself. Help her calm down a little. Allow her to reset so she could think more clearly. But as she went over to the window to drink in some of that night, she noticed something on the sill. A dusty shoe print. And if she had to guess, she would say that it was pretty fresh.

Leaning out of the screenless window, Velma examined the building’s exterior. Below the window was a ledge, plenty wide enough for a person to comfortably stand on, and above was another ledge, but not nearly as wide. Even if she was inclined to do so, she couldn’t have reached the upper ledge. But someone as tall as Shaggy? He could easily grab it. And climbing up on things was something that was certainly not alien to him. There was no longer any doubt in Velma’s mind. She knew where Shaggy had run off to. But she certainly wasn’t going to take the same route that he did to get there.

Velma circled the building's interior, pulling up blinds and opening curtains, peering through each window that she came to until she found what she was looking for. After opening the window, she hauled herself through before carefully setting her feet on the landing just outside of the window. While this was by far a safer option than trying to climb up the side of the building, it wasn’t like this plan had no risk to it at all. Once her feet were solidly planted on one of the many interconnected platforms, she let out a relieved breath. Velma skeptically looked up at the rest of the fire escape clinging to the side of the building and silently prayed that it was up to code. As she looked down, trying to see if she had good reason to mistrust the structural integrity of the stairs, she immediately realized her mistake. Clinging to the guardrail Velma could feel herself going vertigo until she looked back up and out to the horizon in the distance. She certainly was not going to try that again. Her dizziness subsiding, Velma stared up at the steps she needed to climb and began her ascent.

When Velma reached the top of the fire escape and stepped onto the building’s roof, she let out a sigh of relief. Her instincts were right and her efforts did not go to waste as she finally saw him. Shaggy was sitting, his knees drawn close to his chest as he looked up at the stars, embraced by the cool moonlight.

“So this is where you’ve been,” Velma sighed as she walked over to join him. “You shouldn’t be up here, you know. If the owners catch you they would probably get pretty mad and kick us out.”

Shaggy spun around, clearly startled at hearing her voice. He half looked like he was going to run away again, but when he fully realized who it was, Shaggy managed to calm himself back down. “Velma? Like… Uh… How did you get up here?” he asked, a little flabbergasted. He was certain that no one would be able to find him up here, and yet here she was.

Velma shrugged as she casually pointed towards the stairs behind her with her thumb. “Fire escape.”

“Oh…” Shaggy said, nervousness clear in his voice. He took a breath to calm down, his heart still rapidly beating in his chest. It was just Velma. He didn’t need to feel nervous. It was just her, his very good friend, Velma! So why did he feel so nervous? He shouldn’t feel this nervous about her being here, right? Velma wouldn’t hurt him. He cared about and trusted her, and he knew that she felt exactly the same way. So why was he nervous? He supposed that he just couldn’t help it. “So… Uh… What brings you up here?” He only managed to calm down enough to get the words out after she was standing right next to him.

Velma took a seat on the flat rooftop beside him, leaning backwards a bit so that she could look up at the sky. “I just want to make certain that you’re okay. After you ran off like that, we got worried about you. We couldn’t find you anywhere.” Turning to him, she gave Shaggy a fond, if exhausted smile. “This is a pretty good hiding spot that you’ve found here. When I figured out that you climbed up onto the roof, what was I supposed to do? I was worried about you too, you know... I had to come up here and check on you. What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t?”

Now Shaggy felt a little guilty. He really didn’t mean for his friends to worry over him like this. “So, like, how’d you figure out that I was up here?” He was desperate to change the subject.

“Dusty footprint on the windowsill,” she shrugged.

“Darn!” He snapped his fingers to punctuate his mock disappointment. “I guess that I’ll just have to get better at hiding my tracks! Next time. You’ll see. I’ll become a master criminal here yet!” Shaggy joked, making the both of them silently chuckle.

Their shared laughter soon faded into a serene silence. The two had managed to calm down, staring up at the sky and taking in the night air. At least that was the case up until Velma decided to break through the quiet.

“So…  _ Are _ you okay?” She just needed to know for certain.

Shaggy hesitated for a moment before speaking. “Uh… Yeah. I… I think so at least. I’ll be fine.” He gave her a strained smile as he lied, only giving her an empty reassurance. In reality he was still shaken. He was still wracked with guilt. But he wasn’t about to make Velma worry by showing it.

Velma stared at her friend for a long moment, gauging his answer before turning away. “All right.” For now she was choosing to let it be as she leaned back on the palms of her hands to get a better look at the stars. Shaggy was still being bothered by something; she could tell that much. But she knew better than to persist in trying to make him tell her what it was. “I can see why you wanted to come up here. It’s really nice out tonight. And just look at all those stars!”

“You can see the Milky Way from here,” Shaggy mentioned, feeling relieved that Velma had changed the subject.

“You can? My eyes haven’t adjusted yet...”

“You sure can!” he assured.

“I wouldn’t think that you could…” Velma admitted. “Not here… I would think that this place would give off too much light.”

“Well… We are pretty far into the mountains. Like, maybe the trees are blocking the light out?”

“Maybe.”

The two fell into silence again, the night lulling them into something of a relaxing trance.

“Hey Shaggy?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you know much about astronomy?”

“Uh... I guess a little. Like, what’s your sign?”

Velma stared at Shaggy for a long moment, silently judging him. How was she even supposed to answer that? But by God was she going to. “I don’t know anything about  _ my  _ sign, but  _ this _ is a bad one.” Velma let out a frustrated sigh. “Shaggy, I said  _ astronomy _ as in the study of celestial bodies. You’re thinking about  _ astrology _ which is a bunch of fortune telling, pseudoscientific nonsense based around vastly applicable generalizations. I mean, say what you want about sociology, but stars in the sky are light years away! They can’t effect us gravitationally, no matter how big they are. They are just too far away from us to have any significant impact on our planet. Planets on the other hand  _ may _ be able to have  _ some _ minuscule gravitational effect on us, but it is not particularly significant, especially when compared to the gravitational effects of our sun and moon. Actually, it would have been  _ very  _ bad for the formation of the Earth if any other planets’ gravitational pull was significant enough to effect us. After all, if it wasn’t for Jupiter’s gravitational effect on the asteroid belt, then Ceres would be a real planet! And don’t even get me started on the Nibiru conspiracy theory!”  


Shaggy wasn’t entirely sure that he was keeping up with everything that Velma was talking about. Still. He couldn’t help but to fondly smile at her as she continued her rant. Even if he wasn’t 100% certain that he knew what she was going on about, he liked hearing about it anyway.

It was then that Velma happened to glance at Shaggy for just a moment. But that moment was just enough to make her mind go blank as she forgot everything that she was talking about. Seeing that content fondness on Shaggy’s face made her flustered as she suddenly fell off balance. “Shaggy…? What are you staring at me like that for?” she asked, turning away to try and hide the blush that was starting to stain her cheeks.

Once Velma had pointed it out, Shaggy suddenly became horrifyingly aware of what he was doing and how he was looking at her. “Oh! It’s uh… It’s nothing. It’s just, like… Uh…” He fumbled over his words, desperate to say something that would direct her attention away from him, but he felt so flustered that it was making it hard to think. Why did he feel so flustered? It wasn’t like he was doing anything hurtful or mean. It would have been so simple for him to just explain himself, and yet he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He didn’t even understand why he wanted to change the subject so badly. However in a sudden moment of clarity, Shaggy managed to take a deep breath as he composed himself. The words had finally come to him, but when he spoke he sounded far more dejected than he had anticipated. “Isn’t this something that you’d rather talk to Fred about?”

Velma blinked. Now that was a surprise. She put a hand to her chin allowing herself a moment to reflect. “No. Not really,” she finally admitted. “When it comes to this kind of stuff, he zones out and stops listening after about ten minutes. He doesn’t think that this kind of knowledge is very ‘practical.’ And it’s not like he can get his hands on a star. He already knows pretty much everything that he wants to know about the night sky which is... About two constellations and how to figure out your latitude.” At that, Velma shot Shaggy a mischievous smile. “If you want, I can teach you three constellations so you can show him up,” she teased with a wink.

Shaggy let out a light laugh. “Yeah! I think that I’d like that!”

At hearing that laugh, Velma couldn’t help but to feel relieved. Shaggy had clearly calmed down a lot since she first came up here to talk to him, and it was killing her to see her friend so panicked. Seeing him like this, talking, joking, and laughing was a vast improvement. She hoped that he was more or less back to his normal, if still nervous self. However she understood if Shaggy needed a bit more time before he was ready to go back down to talk to the others. Until then, she was more than happy to give him this little lesson.

“Well, are you familiar with Ursa Major?” Velma began, “It’s probably the easiest constellation to identify in the night sky.”

“Uh… No?” Shaggy scratched the back of his head in uncertainty. “I don’t think that I know any big bear constellations...”

“It’s also more colloquially known as the Big Dipper.”

At hearing that, Shaggy immediately perked up. “Oh! Yeah! I know that one!” Turning around he scanned the sky for that particular cluster of stars before he excitedly pointed. “There! That one, right!?”

Velma nodded. “That’s the one.” She figured that he would have to at least know the easy to see food-related constellation. “See? You’re already half way there! So. What about the Little Dipper? Do you know where that one is?”

Shaggy let out a nervous laugh. “Sorry. I uh… I don’t really know that one. I probably should...”

“No! It’s alright!” Velma tried to reassure him, “It’s harder to see and doesn’t look as dipper-like as Ursa Major. But you see the two stars that make up the lip of the Big Dipper?” She pointed towards the same cluster of stars that Shaggy had already identified.

“Yep!”

“Well, if you make a line going through those two and keep going… You see that bright star over there?”

“Yeah?”

“That’s Polaris, the North Star. And it’s also the end of the handle on the Little Dipper. Curve it down along those stars and that square right there… Do you see it?”

“I think so…”

“Well, there you have it. The Little Dipper.”

“That is one messed up looking Dipper.”

“I know, right?”

“I’d like to meet the guy who uses  _ that  _ dipper. I think that I’d have a few words for them.”

Velma let out an amused breath before moving on. “Another pretty easy constellation to learn is Cassiopeia.”

“Alright?” Shaggy sounded a bit more nervous about this one. It only figured as they were moving on from the cookware of the sky.

“So if you start at Ursa Major and then go past Ursa Minor… Do you see that ‘W’ right there?” She asked, pointing at a new cluster of stars.

“Uh... I don’t know... I don’t think that I’m seeing it...”

Velma couldn’t help but to feel a bit frustrated as her finger was still outstretched towards what she thought was a pretty obvious, and easy to see shape in the night sky. “There!” She reiterated, emphasizing her point by wagging her finger at it. But Shaggy still wasn’t seeing it.

It was then that Shaggy came up behind her and leaned against her back to really see where she was pointing, resting his head on one of her shoulders. Velma suddenly felt very glad that it was so dark out. Surely he wouldn’t be able to see how flush her face had become as he came almost too close to her.

“Oh! There!” Shaggy exclaimed, finally seeing it. However just because he found it didn’t mean he was going to pull away. “So what’s that one supposed to be?”

For her part, Velma didn’t exactly want to pull away either. So instead she just began to shift around in an attempt to get more comfortable. “Cassiopeia?” she started with a question. “She’s some kind of queen from Greek mythology. She made Poseidon mad and tried to sacrifice her daughter, Andromeda, to a sea monster. But lucky for Andromeda, Perseus came along, saved her from being eaten, the two got married, and Cassiopeia was put into the sky as a constellation as punishment.”

“Oh… That’s an… Interesting story…” Shaggy noted to which Velma just shrugged.

“Well, that’s Greek Mythology for you.” Velma started to settle down, finally getting comfortable. But once she finally did, she realized too late that she was almost sitting in her friend’s lap, only a few degrees of distance between them.

At the realization, Velma suddenly became hyper-aware of everything happening around her. She could feel her heart in her chest beating just a little too quickly. Was there something wrong with her? Her palms were sweaty, her breathing became shallower than usual, and even though she had been feeling just a little bit chilly sitting on the roof like this a moment ago, her sweater now felt uncomfortable and hot. Maybe something really was wrong with her. Was she panicking?

“Velma?” Before she could overthink herself into an uncontrollable spiral, Shaggy’s voice brought her back.

“Uh… Yeah?” She tried her best to snap back to attention looking back at her friend.

“Are you, like, doing alright? You’re shaking. Like… I can  _ see  _ you shaking.” There was a hint of genuine concern in his voice.

“Oh! I didn’t realize… I guess that I’m just a little cold,” she lied. It didn’t take her very long to convince herself that something really must have been wrong with her.

But before she could try to make excuses or overthink and second guess herself, Shaggy wrapped a skinny arm around her. For reasons that she couldn’t quite explain, his touch started to calm her down as she got her breathing back under control. Maybe nothing was wrong with her after all. Maybe she even knew what this was.

“You know, you’re not exactly the most sturdy person in the world right now either.” She teased him. Now that they were actually in physical contact with one another, Velma could feel that Shaggy was shaking too.

He just let out a nervous laugh. “Yeah... I guess that I’m just a bit worried is all.”

Velma squinted, taking note of his poor grammar, but ultimately she decided not to pursue it. “Worried about what?”

“Well…” Shaggy hesitated. “After what happened to Fred today... I would really hate it if something happened to you too…”

“Oh…” Velma was at a loss for words.

“And…” She could tell that Shaggy was having a hard time trying to get the words out.

“And?” she gently tried to push. Though she was careful to not sound like she wanted answers immediately. The words would come to him in due time and she was more than willing to wait for them.

“... When you came up here, I got really worried…” His voice was almost a murmur. “I thought that you were going to ask why I ran off… I thought that you were going to make me tell you why I was acting like that...”

“Ah…” She thought that she was beginning to understand.

“Well?” Shaggy asked.

“What?” Velma was a little confused. She felt that the question was coming out of nowhere.

“Well? Didn’t you come up here to try and get it out of me?” Shaggy confronted her with a more accusatory tone than what she would have expected out of him.

Velma felt a little taken aback as she had to take a moment to think it over.

After having taken a minute to consider it, she finally managed to put together what she wanted to say. “... Not really,” she honestly admitted. “I just wanted to make certain you were okay.”

Shaggy didn’t say anything, his silence clearly demanding more explanation as he patiently waited for her answer.

After some hesitance, she continued, “I know better than to try to pressure something like that out of you… Especially after you ran off like that. If I tried to make you tell me what’s wrong… That would only hurt you. And I don’t want to cause you any more pain. Besides…” Velma took a deep breath to settle her nerves which made Shaggy tilt his head in mild curiosity. “I trust you. If it’s something important… Then I know that you’ll tell us when you’re ready.”

“Oh…” Shaggy didn’t even know what to say to that. So instead he acted. He pulled her in close. A grateful hug from behind. Chin resting on top of her head, chest to her back, arms around her torso.

“Shaggy!” Velma tried to squirm around so that she could look at him, sounding rather startled.

“Thank you…” The words were quiet, but his gratitude was clear. At hearing that, Velma settled down. “Like, I really mean it. Thank you. For listening. For being here. For being my friend. It means a lot… And I’ll tell you about… I’ll tell all of you about it… But not yet. I’m… I’m not ready yet.”

There were no more words to say. So instead Velma tilted her head towards the sky, making Shaggy’s do so in turn. And as they directed their eyes upwards, they both saw it. A small streak of light in the sky, appearing and then disappearing in an instant.

“Did you see that?” Velma asked, uncertain that he would have caught it.

Shaggy’s excitement more than answered her question. “Shooting star! Make a wish!”

“Really? That silly superstition?” Velma couldn’t help but to roll her eyes. “We could be wishing on a piece of astronaut poop you know.”

Shaggy let out a small laugh. “Come on, V, don’t be a spoilsport. Like, what’s the harm? Besides, I’m fine with wishing on some burning poo. I think that’d be pretty cool!”

Velma sighed in mock frustration. “Alright, alright,” She relented looking at the sky in thought for a long moment before closing her eyes.

The two sat in silence, contemplating and then making their wishes. When they were done, their eyes returned to the sky.

“So what’d you wish for?” Shaggy couldn’t help but to excitedly ask once he knew that she had made her wish.

“Now if I tell you, then it won’t come true,” Velma teased.

“Who’s the superstitious one now?” Shaggy teased right back at her.

Leaning into him, Velma let out a sigh as she slid down far enough so that she could playfully look up at him. “Alright, fine. Now that you’ve forced me into this ultimatum, I guess that I  _ have  _ to tell you…” she said, pretending to be upset before smiling back up at Shaggy. “I was just wishing that we could have moments like this more often.”

“Hm… That’s funny. I think that my wish was pretty similar.”

“Really?” she asked with a bemused kind of skepticism.

“Well… I guess that there’s one big difference.”

“Oh? And what’s that?”

“Well, you see… How do I explain this?” Shaggy took a deep breath, considering his options. “I wished that we could do this more often… But that we were in a... Situation? Where I could kiss you.”

Velma froze before easing up again. “Well. It really would be a shame if you didn’t get your wish.”

The two snickered as Shaggy bent over and Velma happily received him. It was a gentle kiss. Quick, but soft. And when the two pulled away, they could both see that the other was blushing furiously, making them break into mutual laughter.

As the moment passed Shaggy shot a glance towards the fire escape behind them. “We should probably be getting back,” he admitted with something like disappointment clear in his voice.

“Yeah,” Velma agreed, sounding decidedly less disappointed. She sat upright before bringing herself to a stand, offering a hand to help Shaggy up. “If I know Freddie, and I know Freddie, he’s probably out of bed looking for us by now… Even after I told him to stay put...”

Shaggy laughed, taking her hand. “Yeah. That sounds like him.”

The two pulled and sure enough, Shaggy rose to his feet. “We should probably get down there before he ends up hurting himself… Or figures out where you’ve been,” Velma reasoned as they turned towards the stairs.

“Or before Daphne decides to climb up here for herself…”

“Oh, she wouldn’t climb up here,” Velma dismissed, with a wave of her hand.

Shaggy just gave her a knowing look.

After a moment of thought, Velma realized her miscalculation and capitulated. “Okay. Yeah. You’re right.”

As the two approached the fire escape, Shaggy spoke with an air of hesitance. “I liked this... This was nice.”

“It really was,” Velma agreed.

“Do you think that we could, like, do this again sometime?” he nervously suggested.

“I mean… Maybe.” Velma wrung her hands together in uncertainty. “I don’t know if you’d be interested, but I could give you a few more astronomy lessons…? There’s a lot more I could tell you about… More constellations, facts about stars, nebulae and how stars are made… But only if you’d be interested, of course!”

Shaggy smiled. “I’d actually really like that.”

That put her more at ease. “Then I guess that I’ll just have to get started on making a lesson plan,” she joked. (At least Shaggy hoped that she was just joking.)

As the two stepped onto the platform, the metal screeched and ached under their weight. And to his surprise, that was when Velma took his hand. Admittedly, Shaggy was at something of a loss for words as she took the lead.

“I guess it’s time to face the music.” While she had taken the lead, there was still a note of nervousness in Velma’s voice.

Shaggy could only smile. “I guess it is.”

**Author's Note:**

> HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BUDDY!  
> So, Scooby-Doo is the latest of my hyperfixations, and I’ve actually been working on some fic for the franchise for a while now. (They're not even close to being ready to post and are... Long.) This one-shot was created as a birthday gift for my bud, SpongeGuy, who has been making my time in this fandom pretty delightful! He’s a rather big fan of Shaggy x Velma as a ship, and so I thought that I would throw this together for him! I certainly hope that you (and anyone else who may or may not be seeing this note) enjoyed reading this little piece of mine! Feedback is always appreciated! And I hope that you lovelies out there have a great rest of your day!


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